


The Monsters in Our Pasts

by Zola9612



Series: The Monsters in Our Past [1]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Avengers Mansion, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Bucky Barnes Recovering, Central Park, Getting Together, Howard Stark should rot in Hell, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Not Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie) Compliant, Not Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Compliant, One-sided Clint/Tony, Past Child Abuse, Path to being a villain!Clint, Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Protective Bucky Barnes, Sarcastic!Steve, The Loch, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, dragon!Tony
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-31
Updated: 2017-05-31
Packaged: 2018-11-07 08:42:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11055387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zola9612/pseuds/Zola9612
Summary: Fulfills this prompt:9- Supernatural creatures AUWith parts from this prompt:4- The team has to visit/move into the old Stark Mansion temporarily, Clint goes snooping and finds a bunch of old homemade VHS cassettes. When after a bit of convincing Tony gives the ok they gather everyone up to watch them. The videos show Maria, Peggy, Ana and Jarvis and kid!Tony. Tony and Steve get all teared up bc of Peggy and Bucky can't deal with how cute Tony was. Bonus points for Howard being a shitty parent and godmother!Peggy shutting him down.When Stark Tower is damaged in an attack, the team is forced to move into Tony's childhood home. It is there that Tony's many secrets start to unravel.AU after Winter Soldier





	The Monsters in Our Pasts

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Lunatical](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lunatical/gifts).



> The block of italics is the video. I don't know Russian so Google Translate it is. If you know Russian, please correct me. All mistakes are mine. I imagine young dragon Tony as looking like Drogon from season 3 of Game of Thrones.

**Tony’s POV**

                “Aw, tower, no,” Clint moaned as a giant-alien-bird-thingy took a toxic shit on Avengers Tower. Thankfully, the team and I were away from the open windows on the common room floor. Unfortunately, toxic bird shit was all over the residential floors of the tower. That’s what we get for thinking it was a gorgeous day today and we should get some fresh air. I sighed, wondering how long it would take to get the tower’s residential floors entirely clean. “Tony, suit up and follow that alien bird. Keep track of it. We’ll join you once we’re suited up and in the Quinjet,” Steve commanded in his Captain America voice. “Aye, aye, Captain,” I replied cheekily while already navigating the clean spots on the floor to reach the landing dock for the Iron Man armor. “Now is not the time to be talking about sponges, Tony,” Steve said. I laughed as the suit folded around me. Looks like my pop culture curriculum is paying off. Steve can now reply to a reference with a pun. I launched myself from the tower and took off after Tweety Bird.

                Less than twenty minutes away from the tower, I was thinking that we might need Thor. “Steve, we might have a teeny tiny problem,” I broadcasted over the comm units. “Codenames only, Iron Man. Status report,” Steve admonished. “Well, I thought we were going to be able to herd Tweety Bird out of the city but that has now become impossible. Cap, we are going to have a major fight on our hands. You need to call in Thor,” I stated in a worried tone. “What could warrant calling in Thor,” Steve asked.

“Giant, angry, alien bird protecting her babies in Central Park.”

“Yeah, I’ll call Thor. Do not engage until Thor and the rest of us arrive.”

“Not looking to be pecked to death by Tweety Bird, so I won’t go off handle.”

“Thank you, Iron Man. Also, don’t become a robot chicken.”

“Very funny, Cap.”

                I stayed stationary in the air about sixty feet from the nest. There were three chicks that were about the size of a small car. While waiting for the team to arrive, I thought of how easily I could have handled this without my suit. There wouldn’t have even been a fight. Ah, the costs of keeping it secret.

                I heard the Quinjet land behind me and I turned and landed as Cap walked out. “The chicks are vulnerable and not a threat. They’re too young to fight back. The mother, on the other hand, is going to be super protective of them and be a bit more of a challenge to defeat,” I said, my observations flowing from my mouth. “Understood, Iron Man. What do you suggest we do?” Captain America asked. “Take out the mother before going after the chicks. With the mother out of the way, the chicks will be easy to take out,” I replied, laying out a plan.

                “Aye, the Man of Iron’s plan is a sound one. When my friends and I last faced a mother Niptalivk, Fandral attempted to take out the chicks first to disastrous results. It took three months for his skin to grow back under Eir’s care. It fell to myself and Sif to take out the mother while Hogun and Volstagg took care of the chicks. Fandral complained about the loss of glory for years afterwards,” Thor explained as he landed by Captain America. Cap and I shared looks of disbelief.

                “O-kay, Thor. Hawkeye, I want you up on one of the tall buildings around the park. See if you can shoot the Niptalivk down and out of the air. Black Widow, I want you to make as much noise as possible and keep it herded within the Central Park Zoo area. Hulk, keep trying to smash the bird. Thor, light the bird up without hitting anything else. Iron Man, I want you on reconnaissance. I want you able to warn us if it looks like we might get hurt. Can you do that?” Captain America laid out his orders. “Yes, I can do that, Cap. Don’t like seeing you all hurt. And what will you be doing?” I replied. “Distracting the bird.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~[WinterIron]~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

                “What do you mean it’s going to take months to clean up this acidic bird poop and test the structural integrity of the Tower and repair it if it is compromised?!” I yelled. The contractor gulped and said, “The city has codes for this. If there is a fire or anything else that can affect structure integrity, the floors effected must be tested first before any repairs can happen. And if the structure is compromised, the structure must be repaired properly before the floors themselves can be repaired. As the floors effected are the residential floors, the Avengers have to find somewhere else to stay until the Tower is fixed.”

                I glared at her and turned back to the Avengers. We were stuck in Central Park after Ms. Lee managed to get through the police tape to talk to me about the Tower. “So, it looks like the Tower is no longer an option for us to live in for a few months. Thankfully, I’m a futurist so I expected this might eventually happen. I have another property that we’d be able to stay at and it’s not far from here. In fact, it’s right across the street,” I explain, while internally I’m cringing. I wish we didn’t have to stay there. “Can we at least get clothes and other important belongings from the Tower or would they be too damaged to use?” Steve asked Ms. Lee. “Yes, you can. The workers report that they were able to prevent the acid from spreading to your personal belongings so you’ll be able to collect them before heading to your temporary dwellings.” Ms. Lee responded. “Thank you,” Steve replied.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~[WinterIron]~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

                “Welcome to Stark Manor. The bedrooms are on the second floor. Last one is mine. Kitchen is to the left of the courtyard and the library is to the right. Living room is to the right of the stairs and the dining room is to the left. There is a fourth floor in the back of the manor that is off limits. The third floor and basement are the labs. Basement is reinforced to handle explosions. We should only be here for about eight months so don’t get comfortable,” I rambled, taking in the team’s dumbfounded expressions at the opulence of the entrance room. I turned and went to my room without a further word to the team. I did not want to be here.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~[WinterIron]~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

                Crack-Boom! I jumped straight up in bed and looked around the room. What the hell woke me up at two in the morning?! I looked towards the broken window and saw a figure huddled underneath it. “What the ever loving DaVinci are you doing? Did you come to kill me? Answer me, bozo!” I yelled, trying not to let the burglar/assassin know that I was terrified. I reached over and turned on my bedside lamp. I gasped when I refocused on the man. It was the Winter Soldier a.k.a. the long, lost Bucky Barnes. He was shivering and had multiple bullet wounds scattered over his body. The worst of the damage, though, was to his metal arm. The arm was barely holding itself together and resembled more of a slinky than an arm. He shuddered when I looked in his eyes. “Kill me,” the Soldier whispered in accented English before his flesh arm gave out and he collapsed to the floor. I jumped from my bed and crouched by him. “Why?” I whisper back, trying to stop the bleeding from one of his bullet wounds. He coughed and whispered back, “I killed your parents.”

                I froze and looked at his eyes. My mom always told me that the eyes portray what the person is feeling. All I saw was pain, remorse, regret, and surrender. He truly did not want to kill my parents. I knew then that I was looking at Barnes and not the Soldier. I also figured out that he thought he deserved to die for what HYDRA made him do. “No, Barnes, I won’t kill you. My father was an abusive asshole who hated me. I didn’t care that he had died. My mother loved me and I loved her. She wouldn’t want me to blame you. She would say, ‘Mi bambino, he is not at fault. He was controlled by forces beyond my comprehension. Blame those that controlled and abused him.’ I always believed in what my mother told me. So, I don’t blame you. I blame HYDRA,” I told him, using my shirt to plug the bullet wound. He looked at me in wonder for a second before he passed out. I rushed to get up and out the door, yelling for Bruce the entire way.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~[WinterIron]~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

                Bruce had turned the library into a temporary Med-Bay within hours of moving in. Bruce and Steve, who was woken up by my yelling for Bruce, rushed into my room, saw Barnes collapsed on the floor, and rushed him to the Med-Bay.

                I confronted Steve and asked if he knew that HYDRA used the Soldier to kill my parents. He told me that Zola implied it but that he didn’t have any proof and he didn’t know if Zola told him that to mess with his mind because Zola knew Steve would find out the Soldier was Barnes. He also said that he was looking for that proof each time he and Sam took down a HYDRA base while looking for Barnes. I wanted to be mad at him, but he had a point in the proof department. I would have wanted proof when he told me about HYDRA’s involvement.

                As it is, Steve and I had been waiting in the living room for several hours to hear word on Barnes’ condition. Just then, I heard Bruce come into the room. “He’s doing fine. Lost a bit of blood and I had to remove the metal arm, which took some time. I had to do a skin graft to close his shoulder once the arm was detached. But he’ll be fine. Probably won’t wake up until late tomorrow, though,” Bruce explained to us. Steve and I sighed in relief.

 

~~~~~~ [We Interrupt This Regularly Scheduled Broadcast with A Special Message] ~~~~~

**Clint’s POV**

 

                It had been three days since the Rival had woken up. He had claimed the room by Tony’s room and only left the room when Tony collected him. That man is supposed to be a better shot than me!? He’s scared of his own shadow and follows Tony around like a lost puppy. I continued to grumble as I passed by the door to the fourth floor. A lightbulb dinged in my mind. Maybe I’ll find something up there that’ll take care of the Rival once and for all. Tony is mine.

                Ugh, nothing but storage and more storage. As I got closer to the window, I tripped over a box full of home video cassettes and a VCR. I grinned. It would be cute seeing Tony as a kid.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [We Now Return to Our Regular Programming] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Tony’s POV**

 

                The team (minus Clint), Bucky, and I were in the living room watching the Dodgers play the Yankees when we heard Clint yell, “Guess what I found?” “What?” Natasha yelled back. Clint walked into the room holding a box of videos and a VCR. I froze. “Stark family movies,” Clint said, smugly. I got up and punched Clint in the face. “I deliberately told you not to go onto the fourth floor and you did it anyway. I can tell you got the others interested, so you all can watch them. I won’t be here though. And Clint? Find a hotel. You are no longer welcome in this house,” I spat. I rushed out of the mansion and into the street.

 

~~~~~ [Now A Word from Our Sponsors] ~~~~~

**Steve’s POV**

 

                Less than a minute after Tony ran out of the room, Bucky had Clint in a chokehold up against the wall. “Why’d you do that? You ignored what he told you for what? Shits and giggles?!” Bucky growled at Clint. Clint gurgled, trying to answer. “Bucky, loosen up a bit. He is trying to answer,” I said with a mildly sarcastic tone. Bucky loosened his grip and Clint said, “Tony never tells us about his childhood. I thought this was a way for us to find out about it.”

                “Clint, you ever think Tony didn’t tell us for a reason?” I asked, dumbfounded by Clint’s stupidity. Clint looked sheepish. I sighed and told Bucky to put him down. Bucky put him down but continued to glare at him. Win some, lose some. “We shouldn’t watch these, but Tony gave us permission before he left. We need to know why Tony was so scared of the videos,” I reasoned. Natasha rose from the couch and set up the VCR. She then put the first tape in. Clint sat on the floor but Bucky stayed standing by the door. Natasha hit play on the remote.

                _The courtyard appeared on the screen followed by a young boy who was running from somebody. “You can’t catch me, Momma!” the young boy yelled as he ran around the fountain. A woman’s voice called out, “Mi bambino, I will always catch you!” A blonde woman ran onto the screen after the boy. “Not like this,” the young boy said as his body changed. One moment, there was a young boy. In the next moment, a small dragon was hovering in the air. It had a small mane of horns on its head with two rows of fins going from the back of the head down its neck. Its wings were twice the size of its body and its legs were drawn up to its belly. Its tail was as long as the neck and torso put together. Its scales were a crimson red and the fin and wing membranes were a dark gold. It chirped and flew higher. The woman laughed and said, “Tony, mi bambino, come down from there. We don’t know when your father will be home.”_

_“Too late for that, bitch,” a man’s voice spoke angrily. The woman and dragon turned to look off the screen. The woman tried to run but a man appeared on screen and grabbed her. “How could you hide this from me, bitch? He could create a whole new race of super soldiers and you kept this hidden from my genius. I wouldn’t have had to waste my time searching for a dead body.” The man ranted while squeezing the woman’s throat. The dragon screeched at the man but didn’t move closer to him. “Now listen here, brat. I’ll let her go if you come with me quietly. There’s no need for her to get hurt, now is there?” The man threatened. The dragon churred, landed, and walked to the man, using its wings as forelimbs. The man dropped the woman and kicked the dragon. “Get to the lab, now!” The man yelled. The dragon screamed and ran off the screen. The man followed, leaving the woman on the ground. “Mi bambino, mi bambino,” the woman repeated between sobs as the screen went black._

                The team and I were trembling with rage and sorrow. That was our Tony and his mother being abused at the hands of Howard. Our Tony, who is a dragon. How could Howard become this monster? I looked over at Bucky, only to find him with a blank gaze. The Soldier had come out. “YA ne zhaleyu, chto ubil etogo cheloveka. Zhenshchina, odnako, zhaleyu.” The Soldier said. I looked to Natasha and she translated, “He doesn’t regret killing Howard, but he regrets killing Maria.”

                We stayed in the living room for hours, watching video after video of Howard torturing and experimenting on Tony when he was home for the summer. Bruce had Hulked out halfway through the marathon and the Hulk was crying in the middle of the living room. The Soldier still had not relinquished control to Bucky. I was angry at myself for what I had told Tony that day on the Helicarrier. He is worth more than twenty men. Natasha was stoically sharpening her knives. Clint had frozen in place and had not moved since the first video began. Thor had progressively gotten angrier which caused the weather outside to progressively get worse.

                When the last video ended, I had to get up and vomit. What that monster had done to Tony was sickening. I don’t understand how I could have been friends with that psycho. As I arrived back in the living room, I noticed that the Soldier was gone. I looked at Natasha and she said, “Went after Tony.” I nodded. If anyone could get Tony to come back, it would be Bucky and the Soldier. They had gone through similar experiences. Now I had to go and reprimand a stupid archer who doesn’t listen when asked not to do something.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [WinterIron] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Tony’s POV**

 

                I am sitting by the waterfall by Glen Span Arch in the Loch. My mother used to take me here when she could get me away from Howard. I am so angry at Clint for ignoring what I asked them not to do. By now, the team probably knows my secret and hates me for lying to them and being weak. The tears would not stop falling down my cheeks. Clint had ruined it all. A twig snapped. I whipped my head around.

                Bucky stepped out from the trees. I scrambled to get up and away, but Bucky grabbed me and pulled me down with him. I ended up seated in his lap with his arm around my waist. “You know, Tony, the team doesn’t hate you for keeping your dragon side a secret. I don’t hate you for it. Hell, I tried to keep the fact that the Soldier and I were separate entities away from you and Steve. I understand wanting to keep a secret like that. But you are _not_ weak for giving in to that monster. He had your mother. What little boy would not save their mother? You are strong for not letting the sick monster turn you into a violent monster. You are still kind and generous and compassionate. You might be rough around the edges, but aren’t all diamonds like that?” Bucky said, honestly. A new wave of tears rolled down my cheeks.

                I looked up into his eyes and saw hope, vulnerability, awe, and the stirring of love. I smiled and kissed him.

**Author's Note:**

> There will be more to come as both an outtake story and separate sequels. And Clint will get worse. There might be a chance of Bucky re-growing his arm without the help of Extremis. And maybe Bucky joining Tony in the skies under his own power.


End file.
